Page 92 of Say It Again

“I felt guilty. I felt crazy guilty for some reason. So we talked for a long time. He was a good guy. I’ll never forget what he said. He shoved the cash plus a fifty-dollar tip in my pocket and said, ‘I know you don’t believe it, but trust me. You’re worth it.’”

Hmph. Daniel grazed his fingertips down Aaron’s arm. “Well of course you are. You didn’t believe you were worth it?”

“See, that’s the thing.” Aaron’s gaze wandered around the bathroom. “No. Er, well, not to start. It took me a long time to wrap my head around it. Firstly, to wrap my head around that kind of wealth. Money was always a fight in my house, and there was never enough. And secondly, to wrap my head around the fact that someone would give it to me so freely. For doing what? For showing up?”

“Do you not know what you look like, sweetie?”

“Well, so I learned pretty quickly that I had… we’ll call it a talent for it. That guy referred me to another guy, who referred me to another guy, then another, and so on. I started getting popular. Really popular. Here I was, a nineteen-year-old kid who came from absolute squalor with suddenly so much cash I didn’t even know what to do with it all. For the first time in my life, I felt powerful. I felt unstoppable.”

“So what happened? You dropped out of school to pursue it?”

“Hell no. Don’t get me wrong. It was a rush, but it wasn’t like I ever saw myself doing it seriously. Certainly not for any real amount of time. I knew what I wanted to do. I had a plan.” Aaron’s long eyelashes flicked downward. “But then my mom got sick. She’d been in remission, and it came back with a vengeance.”

Daniel interlaced their fingers, his heart squeezing at the shift in Aaron’s tone.

“My dad had already split. She was barely making ends meet without him. She didn’t have money for the medication or for one of those scarves for when she lost her hair. She didn’t have money to support Andrew; he was still in high school at the time. She didn’t have money for anything that would’ve just made her life that much more comfortable, and there I was.” Aaron’s voice had gotten shaky. “Fucking drowning in cash.”

Daniel gripped his chest.

“Escorting was suddenly a no-brainer. If I dropped out of school, it meant I could take care of her during the day because I was working mostly nights. It meant I could take care of Andrew—drop him off at school, make sure he was fed—so she didn’t have to worry about him either. I could make sure she wasn’t alone, because above all, she didn’t deserve to have to do it alone.”

Daniel wiped at his tears.

“I got smarter too. Clever, more tactful. I told myself the rate is the rate. I told my clients the rate is the rate, then I charged what I fucking wanted to charge, and it wasn’t a couple hundred dollars either. By the time she passed, we had the best care for her, everything she needed to make it as comfortable as possible. I just… I never really looked back after that.”

“Oh my God. That’s. That’s so.” Daniel sniffled and smeared his hands over his face. “I had no idea. That’s noble. It’s noble, Aaron.”

“No-ble.” Aaron seemed to dissect the word. He shook his head. “No, not really, but that’s a nice thing to say—”

Daniel tugged Aaron into a hug, drenching his shirt in bathwater as Aaron whimpered from how firmly he gripped. “I’m so sorry I didn’t ask sooner. I should’ve asked sooner.”

“No.” Aaron exhaled, his arms slowly wrapping around him. “No, you shouldn’t have. S’okay.”

“You’re the salt of the earth, you know that?” He released him to run his hands through his hair over and over, kissing him sweetly. “You’re everything to me.”

It was all so clear. Crystal clear just how everything he was. The dreamiest, everything of a person. His big strong man. His mister. He deserved so much more than Escorting was suddenly a no-brainer. He deserved a reset button on his life and one that would erase his pain and reorient his future. He deserved to do something he loved.

If interior design was what he wanted, then interior design was what he would get.

“The salt of the earth,” Daniel whispered. “I’m going to make sure you realize your worth.”

Chapter Nineteen

LATER THAT week, Aaron knocked on the door of a cabin rental near the lake. It didn’t have a sketchy overtone, but it was a tad secluded. At least the car he parked beside was exorbitant. Cars like that were a decent predictor. A person who cared that much about appearances was less likely to do something reckless.

“Hello,” said the guy who answered the door. Not his client, judging by the tall, athletic frame. Judging by the face. Geez, the face. He had this deep cocoa skin, sky-high cheekbones, and brown eyes that sparkled when he smiled. “You must be Aaron.”

Another escort perhaps? Which meant there was a wealthy hobgoblin inside, surrounding himself with paid company.

“I am, yes. Sorry.” He shook his head clear. He’d been staring at the guy for a beat too long. “I’m looking for a Marco… Becker, maybe? I think that’s his last name.”

“Beckett.” The guy extended his hand. “That’s me.”

Aaron blinked. No way. This was his client? He’d never had such a handsome client. Like, ever. Well, there had to have been something crucially wrong with him. He was an awful person. The Pontius Pilate of the Midwest.

“Won’t you come in?” Marco’s voice was silky and calm. Not like a typical nervy first-timer. “May I take your coat? Would you like something to drink? I have sparkling water or an interesting pinot if you’d prefer?”

Handsome and polite? He’d never had handsome and polite. “I’m fine, thanks.” Aaron shed his coat while Marco complimented its “exquisiteness.”